Newsletter

Investment adviser pleads guilty to four charges in Shawnee County case

Kevin C. Brown, 51, was accused of misconduct that transpired in Shawnee County from December 2011 to April 2013. His guilty pleas to four charges were accepted Tuesday by District Court Judge Nancy Parrish (pictured), who scheduled sentencing for Dec. 19. (May 2017 file photo/The Capital-Journal)

The Kansas attorney general said Wednesday a Pennsylvania man entered guilty pleas to felony charges of selling unregistered securities that cost investors $800,000.

Kevin C. Brown, 51, was accused of misconduct that transpired in Shawnee County from December 2011 to April 2013. His guilty pleas to four charges were accepted Tuesday by District Court Judge Nancy Parrish, who scheduled sentencing for Dec. 19.

In 2015, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission entered into a consent agreement accusing Brown of participating in a collection of companies tied to three multimillion-dollar frauds from 2008 to 2014, including a Ponzi scheme.

The Kansas case was the first prosecuted under authority granted by the 2017 Legislature to the office of Attorney General Derek Schmidt to handle financial crimes previously the domain of the Kansas Securities Commission.

“From a criminal enforcement standpoint, it is a smart initiative,” Schmidt said.

The Brown case was originally investigated by the securities commission before being passed to Schmidt.

In addition, the reform legislation signed by Gov. Sam Brownback shifted securities regulation to the office of Kansas Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer. The governor said the goal was to make the state a better steward of tax dollars and improve government services.

The law implemented July 1 was tied to agitation among lawmakers that the independent commission had a bloated, high-paid staff that brought a modest number of securities cases to fruition.